Citizens Advice Shropshire privacy policy
At Citizens Advice we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people’s lives.
We only ask for the information we need. We always let you decide what you’re comfortable telling us, explain why we need it and treat it as confidential.
When we record and use your personal information we:
- only access it when we have a good reason
- only share what is necessary and relevant
- don’t sell it to commercial organisations
At times we might use or share your information without your permission. If we do, we’ll always make sure there’s a legal basis for it. This could include situations where we have to use or share your information:
- to comply with the law – for example, if a court orders us to share information. This is called ‘legal obligation’
- to protect someone’s life – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client was unwell at our office. This is called ‘vital interests’
- to carry out our legitimate aims and goals as a charity – for example, to create statistics for our national research. This is called ‘legitimate interests’
- for us to carry out a task where we’re meeting the aims of a public body in the public interest – for example, delivering a government or local authority service. This is called ‘public task’
- to carry out a contract we have with you – for example, if you’re an employee we might need to store your bank details so we can pay you. This is called ‘contract’
- to defend our legal rights – for example, sharing information with our legal advisers if there was a complaint that we gave the wrong advice
We handle and store your personal information in line with the law – including the General Data Protection Regulation.
You can check our main Citizens Advice policy: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/ for how we handle most of your personal information.
This page covers how we, as your local charity, handle your information locally in our offices.
How Citizens Advice Shropshire collects your data:
To find out how we collect your data, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/]
Research and Campaigns – If we have contacted you for help with a survey for research and campaigns this information is accessed through Surveymonkey.
(Find out more about Surveymonkey Privacy Policy and Terms.).
What Citizens Advice Shropshire asks for:
To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/]
How Citizens Advice Shropshire uses your information:
To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/]
Working on your behalf:
When you give us authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim, we’ll need to share information with that third party:
- creditors – to get more information about your debts
- credit reference agencies – to get a copy of your credit report
- employers or benefits offices – to get details about your income
- our trusted partners – for specialist support
- the Money Advice Service, our funders – so they can check the quality of our advice
How Citizens Advice Shropshire stores your information:
Your information is stored securely on our internal systems. All volunteers and staff who access your data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.
Citizens Advice keeps your information for 6 years. If your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute we keep the data for 16 years.
Our case management systems are hosted within the European Economic Area (EEA) and wherever possible, the UK.
Research and Campaigns – We destroy data collected for Research and Campaigns purposes when the campaign or project is complete, or after 6 six years
How Citizens Advice Shropshire shares your information:
Sometimes we share your personal information with other to help solve your problem or to monitor the quality of our services. We’ll get your permission before doing this.
Organisations we share your data with must store and use it in line with data protection law – they can’t pass it on or sell it without your permission.
If we need to share your details with other organisations we will seek your consent before doing so.
Contact Citizens Advice Shropshire about your information:
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office.
Email: contact@shcab.cabnet.org.uk
Address: GDPR
Citizens Advice Shropshire
Fletcher House
15 College Hill
Shrewsbury
SY1 1LY
You can contact us to:
- find out what personal information we hold about you
- correct your information if it’s wrong, out of date or incomplete
- request we delete your information
- ask us to limit what we do with your data – for example, ask us not to share it if you haven’t asked us already
- ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold in a format you can use to transfer it to another service
- ask us to stop using your information
Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information
The national Citizens Advice charity and your local Citizens Advice operate a system called Casebook to keep your personal information safe. This means they’re a ‘joint data controller’ for your personal information that’s stored in our Casebook system.
Each local Citizens Advice is an independent charity, and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity. The Citizens Advice membership agreement also requires that the use of your information complies with data protection law.
You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.